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St. Thomas, the great doctor and theologian, warns about the proper use of animals, lest they appear at the final Judgment against us: and God himself will take vengeance on all who misuse his creatures.

before you criticize a bird thrower or a gunner You gotta ask yourself

1. if not them, then who

2. are you prepared to go out there and throw

Throwing a live pheasant flyer is a tough task if you have never done it, there is a reason they have masks on because they are ornery birds, so are banty roosters...getting a pheasant to fly in a somewhat controlled direction takes some skill, and a gunner who can adjust to every type of throw imaginable....add the pressure of a field trial and its a recipe for failure..I consider myself a good to very good bird thrower, but I do not enjoy the pressure of throwing the flyer at a trial..

Executor of the Alanson C Brown III - Trust

Originally Posted by lanse brown

A few things that I learned still ring true. "Lanse when you get a gift, say thank you and walk away. When you get a screwing walk away. You are going to get a lot more screwings than gifts"

As both a judge and a gunner, I look at both sides. Recently as a gunner, the judges set up a bad situation at the flyer station that basically made it impossible for gunners. It was pointed out to the judges that with that set up there was a good likelihood of no birds, which there were. Dogs were sent for birds they shouldn't have been and it made for a bad test overall. When I am judging I like to confer with my gunners to be certain they have clear fields of fire and are comfortable with where I want the birds dropped. That being said, I have not come across too many situations where no birds were a problem to a great extent.

before you criticize a bird thrower or a gunner You gotta ask yourself

1. if not them, then who

2. are you prepared to go out there and throw

Throwing a live pheasant flyer is a tough task if you have never done it, there is a reason they have masks on because they are ornery birds, so are banty roosters...getting a pheasant to fly in a somewhat controlled direction takes some skill, and a gunner who can adjust to every type of throw imaginable....add the pressure of a field trial and its a recipe for failure..I consider myself a good to very good bird thrower, but I do not enjoy the pressure of throwing the flyer at a trial..

Ur absolutely right, the thrower on a flier station has a lot of control over no birds. If you have a good thrower that can put a nice arc on the bird, and the wind is correct some pretty fliers can be shot. If the thrower is only giving you the ass end of the bird to hit, your going to have no birds. "The bird thrower will make you.. or break you" is true in all aspects...

"Women are like labradors...,they all have their quarks."~Phil Robertson

Judges can cause no birds just as easily by the way they set up a test. I shot for a club after a test had a pile of no birds. Thankfully, an excellent thrower came out with us replacing the group that was in and it made all the difference in the world. We did have control of changing the test because we would not throw or shoot until well after the left bird had retired quite a long distance behind an oak tree. Even then, the slightest left turn was a no bird. The slightest right turn was a no bird behind the gunners. Horrible set up but, the judges pushed through too many dogs to scrap the test apparently. I wish I'd never walked out into that field with a gun in my hand. The judges should have been fired after the first three no birds and they didn't change the test.

Just as easily, an overzealous thrower can equally cause issues. The judges want a bird to land 20 yards in front of the station and the gunner is acting like he needs to throw a 40 yard flier? Try to talk them into a soft blooper throw and he thinks its the world series and he's going to throw the runner out at home plate-

Sun coming up, high noon, sun going down-

Fliers with no feathers

Wind

There are million and one reasons why no birds occur. I'm always happy when someone calls no bird for safety because it means folks are paying attention and keeping on their toes.

What do yall consider to many no birds from the flier station for a test.
When would you fire the shooters if you could?

To echo Bon's comments, it's easy to play armchair quarterback. I've thrown, shot, and thrown and shot. None of it is easy. One trick I learned by chance with ducks is to stick their heads in a shorts or jacket pocket when I get each one out of the crate. They get quiet and settle down making it better for the dog at the line to not have the flyer quacking like crazy as well as making for a more accurate, consistent throw.

As a shooter, wind plays a huge factor. I've thrown and shot when the wind was swirling in the fourth series. The first 12 birds were shot cleanly and within about a 20 foot radius. The wind then shifted into our faces. The next two birds flew straight up and hard left right at the the middle gun station. We ended up with two no birds in a row due to a bird landing at our feet and the next preventing a shot entirely due to being unsafe. We had one more no bird that series due to the wind. I've definitely seen some bad shots and bad throwers but it's often more the result of bad setups or bad conditions than just people who don't know what they're doing.

"When a good trainer stops learning about dogs, he stops being a good trainer." the late Gene Hill

"If you want to find out what kind of trainer you are, leave your transmitter in the truck." the late Rex Carr